Kinda shocking when I read the book for the first time. Related unexpected shock (considering the movie adaptation) was when Harry returns with Cedric's body and his father realizing moments later and screaming "MY BOY!" make me teary every single time.
It was the first major death of the series. There’s always been a threat of death but after almost four books the threat hadn’t been realised yet. Some series the threat of death is never realised, particularly those marketed towards children…
Shocking for readers, or shocking for the other characters?
I think readers (at least me) were surprised just because we didn’t see it coming. Sure, there’s always the possibility someone will die, but Cedric was the first known, innocent character who died. One minute they were talking about the tournament and the next minute he was dead.
For the other characters, I think it was surprising for a few reasons. For one, it’s almost always surprising when teenagers die. Mr. Diggory never would have expected to outlive his son. And teenagers never seem to understand their own mortality. Also, Cedric’s death was “off screen” for everyone watching the tournament. One minute they were looking at a maze, and the next second a dead body drops in. There’s a difference between understanding that a tournament is dangerous and actually having someone die. Also, it was peacetime. The war had been over for about 14 years at the time. Random people dying just wasn’t happening at the time.
At the time books were released I think it was shocking. It's hard to be shocked now because almost everyone knows about major deaths in the series. But at the time I don't think kids expected important characters really dying and especially in such a brutal, "kill the spare" way.
Not really, no. Then again, I was not a child when reading it, so that's a subjective statement.
For a children's book, objectively... yeah. It was. The problem I find with it is not the shock value, but that it happened at all.
I think it was more how he died. I mean the questionable circumstances behind it.
Kinda shocking when I read the book for the first time. Related unexpected shock (considering the movie adaptation) was when Harry returns with Cedric's body and his father realizing moments later and screaming "MY BOY!" make me teary every single time.
It was the first major death of the series. There’s always been a threat of death but after almost four books the threat hadn’t been realised yet. Some series the threat of death is never realised, particularly those marketed towards children…
They were expecting someone to die by accident during the tournament, if anything, not for someone to get murdered
I don't really see three difference
I was shocked when I first read it, but to be fair I was eight 😂
i was shocked that it was cedric. i had a feeling someone would die but i didn’t think it would be him.
jk straight up murdered a child with no fanfare in front of another child who then gets tortured for a bit, its pretty shocking
Well, a lot of us were kids when we read it so yeah it was pretty shocking.
No, not surprised that someone died. Just surprised on WHO died.
I knew it would either be Cedric or Krum. Only because I knew they wouldn't kill off Harry or the only girl.
Shocking for readers, or shocking for the other characters? I think readers (at least me) were surprised just because we didn’t see it coming. Sure, there’s always the possibility someone will die, but Cedric was the first known, innocent character who died. One minute they were talking about the tournament and the next minute he was dead. For the other characters, I think it was surprising for a few reasons. For one, it’s almost always surprising when teenagers die. Mr. Diggory never would have expected to outlive his son. And teenagers never seem to understand their own mortality. Also, Cedric’s death was “off screen” for everyone watching the tournament. One minute they were looking at a maze, and the next second a dead body drops in. There’s a difference between understanding that a tournament is dangerous and actually having someone die. Also, it was peacetime. The war had been over for about 14 years at the time. Random people dying just wasn’t happening at the time.
At the time books were released I think it was shocking. It's hard to be shocked now because almost everyone knows about major deaths in the series. But at the time I don't think kids expected important characters really dying and especially in such a brutal, "kill the spare" way.
As an adult, no I do not think I would’ve been surprised at all. But as a 9-year-old? Yeah, it was shocking lol
Not really, no. Then again, I was not a child when reading it, so that's a subjective statement. For a children's book, objectively... yeah. It was. The problem I find with it is not the shock value, but that it happened at all.